When the man comes around
by GrassHat
Summary: William Roper once heard the saying, behind every great painting is a great artist, Roper wouldnt know, his art department hated him. OC/rin
1. Prologue

**When the man comes around**

 **Prologue: Hospital days**

You would be surprised about the difference twelve months could make.

Roper certainly thought so.

He didn't want to go on too much about the way he was one year ago, but he wasn't nearly as confidant and alright with himself as he was now, things changed and life went on, it was weird to Roper, he didn't believe that it was possible to recover. In his mind the day of his accident was the day worst day of his life, it was the day he became permanently crippled.

He watched his friends move on, while he stood on the side-lines, refusing to even consider moving away from them.

But as Roper found out, life just goes on, He went on.

Roper let out a short laugh "you really do" he said quietly to himself while looking at his left arm.

The key source of recovery for Roper was his experiences within the last twelve months, at first these were expensive, early on he knew that.

Anti-depressants.

Roper wasn't against anti-depressants, he knew that some people were strongly against them, because they thought it was dishonest, they believed you needed a genuine recovery.

Though Roper thought that this was a bit short sighted, a bit Rambo.

Then there were people who were ridiculous about anti-depressants, the people that believed after taking them they were now absolutely fine. No, you're not Roper thought, your life is still a total mess.

Roper believed that his use of them was like a band aid, and that was it. They got him ashore, from there it was all his responsibility, the fact he used anti-depressants didn't bother him, the only important thing to roper was that he got better. Sure, he was still a bit damaged but that's not the end of the world, he was wiser and he was still here, he was okay, he wasn't lost anymore.

Roper now understood that he was more important than he felt twelve months ago, the setbacks were horrible early on when he was learning Japanese, his struggles to learn set him back a good two months in the first stages of learning. It really was a setback, but later he became more resilient, and got stronger at dealing with them. Roper could now say to himself, right that was bad, but let's move on.

The one thing Roper could no longer forgive himself for was wasting time, because as he looked back he completely lost his early adulthood up to this point because of his fear of admitting he was lost, he would always wonder if he could have recovered quicker, realistically he probably couldn't have, but he didn't stop entertaining the idea.

Though, he was glad that this depressed stupor didn't last five years, or even ten years.

One thing that was important to Roper was that he could look back at the last twelve months of recovery and think he was better off than he was last year, and this was a good thing for roper because it gave him a sense of direction and a sense of shape to his life, he had a sense that he was no longer in the middle of the ocean, he felt that he was now going somewhere and becoming something.

And that was so important.

when you are a young guy with no skills, it's hard to ignore it, roper tried to find an intellectual way to overlook and forgive his flaws that were real, Roper either had to find a way to live with them, admit them, and live with them or he had to find a way to overcome them, and fix them.

Waiting around for the day when roper just wasn't bothered about them anymore just didn't seem to happen for him, at least in his experience.

If there was one piece of advice that Roper would want to give for young men now it would be just that, don't hope for the best. That was ropers mistake, time and time again he did that, he knew exactly why he did it, it was intimidating to face the reality.

He was the only one that could solve himself, and hoping that someone else would fix it, just wasn't going to happen, it really was on him to save himself, this was his life now and he had to take care of it, he had to take care of the guy in his body living his life because he deserves better than to be a miserably loser for the rest of it.

It was a bummer, wasn't it? It would have been great if a girlfriend, a boss or the doctors could have done it, but no.

Ropers parents had done their job, regardless of what Roper thought of them, he knew that they had done their job, he knew that he could rely on them to keep him fed, clothed, and to preserve him, but that is what parents do, they can't help themselves to do that, Roper knew this and to some extent thought that it was right that they can't, but they could not help Roper become a man.

Their job was done now.

As for a girlfriend, Roper could not make that the centre of his life anymore, he had to be someone, he had to know who he now was before he could become worthy of a woman, and be able to withstand the possible dangers of a relationship.

Roper refused himself to go back to thinking that his happiness would rely on getting something else, he needed to be alright with himself, Roper thought that he didn't need to be jumping for joy, but he had to be content with himself, and not be terrified of surviving on his own anymore, otherwise, Roper believed that if his happiness was contingent on something else, he would be setting himself up for failure.

This was frightening to Roper, time and time again he had told himself for the last two years that he was no longer good enough for himself, Roper now understood that he simply had to be. His life may have gone down a path he would have never wanted, he lost his dream job and hobbies and friends, it was difficult to live with decline, and Roper wanted more than to marinade in it. Roper was his own priority now, he had to come first, he didn't want to believe he was destined for misery, he deserved a life, he had to do this, no one else could do it for him.

It was Feodor del rumple who said that "only by losing oneself does one find oneself" and it was true, it sounded a bit new age to Roper, maybe a bit biennial, but it was true. He began to stop worrying about who he was, what he was, and just do it, slowly. Roper needed to pace himself and recover.

Yamaku was a new beginning.

 **One week later.**

If the William Roper of twelve months ago was stood where Roper was standing now, the front gate to yamaku school. He probably wouldn't have been able to march two feet through that gate, he probably wouldn't have even got off the plane.

The gate itself was astonishing, it set quite an introduction to visitors.

It demanded respect.

it was also very jarring for Roper to see such familiar architecture again, it felt like a slice of London or Bath had been lifted from England and placed right in front of him, this sense of the familiar was welcome.

All the buildings that he had seen on his way here were completely alien to Roper, he knew that this design existed, but he had never been up close to them, never seen them with his bear eyes, they were impressive in their own way, especially the buildings found in the less modern towns that they passed through on his way here, there was history to them.

Ropers train of thought was interrupted by his father walking over from the car park with His luggage, Roper would carry his own bags but his dad demanded that he did it for him. No matter what the situation a dad can't help but be a dad.

"were slightly late but that shouldn't be a problem" he called out as he made his way over to roper who was staring at the gate.

Roper looked over his shoulder towards his father.

"Five hours counts as slightly late in japan?"

Ropers father shrugged and reached Ropers side.

"I guess you'll have to ask them"

"That would be a good first impression" Roper said nonchalantly

Several moments of silence pass between the two before Ropers father breaks the silence.

"you ready?" his father asked, changing the subject.

"I have to be, this is a new start and I have to make it work" Roper continued "like you said, this place will get me on my own two feet in life, I can't afford to screw up again" Roper stated

"pretty sure you can't afford it either" he added

"you damage my ego William"

Roper was about to walk forward towards the gate but was stopped when he felt a hand go on his shoulder, Roper turned around, confused.

"William" his father paused and a smile appeared on his face.

"I appreciate that you are taking this opportunity seriously but don't forget to have fun as well, okay?"

Roper scanned his father's face for a few moments, he could see that his father was worried about him, and he could tell by the mere fact that he just said him that to him

"that's going to be hard to be honest, do you have any idea how many jokes I have about one handed people"

His father deadpanned.

"don't even get me started on nervous fathers"

His father wasn't amused with him

Roper spoke up before his father could get a word in.

"but yes, I understand, I should enjoy my youth like anyone else would"

His father, clearly relaxed by Ropers answer dropped the hand from his shoulder and looked back toward the gate.

"so, would you like to do the honours" his father said as he motioned towards the gate with his hand.

Roper nodded, walked forward but stopped for a moment and looked up at the top of the impressive gate, towards the now orange evening sky.

There was no going back, this place would be his home for the next year of his life, and like it or not he didn't have any other choice now other than to do the best for himself and make his father proud.

He wanted to show his father that he respected his father's resources, Times were changing, Roper was growing up, he was becoming a man.

"yeah, let's go" Roper called out to his father as he walked through the gates.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

 **A new face, a new nurse.**

Roper had never seen anything like this in his life, the only comparison he had was the all-boys boarding school he attended, back when he was still a young lad.

Being just gone five pm on a Monday evening Roper wasn't expecting to see many students, but it was a complete ghost town at the moment.

"A lot of homework must be due in tomorrow eh?" Roper said as he looked around the grounds.

The school was amazing, the well-maintained school gardens, the clean pavements and the huge buildings were no doubt incredibly expensive, Roper wanted to know what type of person would fund a project this big, and better yet have the money to do so.

"impressive isn't it William" his father said as he walked down the pavement also looking around the school.

"it's definitely quiet…" Roper responded

Roper couldn't argue though, it was an impressive display of investment and effort from both the founders and the architects.

Roper agreed with his father.

Though… there was one thing that Roper wasn't that impressed with.

"...Mediocre Uniform though"

they stopped when they reached the front of what Roper guessed was the main school building, to call it big would be an understatement, as Roper looked up, he counted five levels to the building, he didn't want to imagine how many rooms that would be.

To his left, he saw a row of clean pale coloured stairs leading up the grass bank, a quick glance at the building the stairs led to revealed a white plaque with the green words reading "nurses office, first floor" next to the entrance. It clearly mentions four or maybe five other locations in the building but Roper could not make out what they were.

Ropers focus at reading the plaque was cut off by his father speaking to him.

"Ah William, I almost forgot."

Roper turned back to his father.

"having trouble remembering things, old man?" Roper asked then, let out a chuckle.

His father reached for a piece of paper from his pocket, it was crumpled up but a quick inspection revealed it to be a map of the school grounds.

"you need to check in with the head nurse" he pointed behind Roper, he looked over his shoulder, it was the building Roper had just inspected.

"could you go and check in with him while I put your things in your dorm?"

Roper took the map from his father's hands, he scanned it, looking for the head nurse's office, but it was only a simple map with basic details on it.

"I know it's on the first floor, but where is it specifically"

He looked towards his father, confused.

"you can't miss it, it's the first floor, fifth room down"

His father turned around and marched towards the dorms, apparently feeling that that was enough advice for Roper to go off.

Roper rubbed his forehead and watched as his father crossed the pavement that lead to the main building, walk up the stairs opposite roper, and disappear into the bushes and trees in the public garden between the dorms and the school.

Roper could just about see the dorms from where he was standing, the oak, and pine trees dotted across the large field stopped roper from getting a good look though.

Roper turned back to the Axillary building, looked up and down, then like his father, marched to the entrance.

It didn't take Roper long to find the head nurses office after entering the building, just like his father said, first floor and five rooms down. the room had the nameplate " head nurse" with a green cross underneath it.

Roper walked down the corridor passing all the other rooms on his way down, they were not marked and were shut so Roper had no clue what they were for, he reached the intended door and stood outside for a moment.

This was his first chance to set a good impression, Roper wanted a good outcome.

He knocked on the door three times, and waited for a response, after a few moments of silence a voice called from within the room.

"come in"

William opened the door to let himself in.

Roper was met by a young man sitting on a chair by a desk over at the far side of the room, 'the far side of the room would be a compliment' Roper thought, the room was small, considering it was for the head nurse.

"Hello, I'm William Roper, you wanted to meet with me?"

The nurse's eyebrows raised up, he seemed to notice his name, he stood up and reached out for a handshake, probably making sure it went to his right hand.

it was a solid hand shake, it was like his father's.

"school enrolment is really starting to pick up" the nurse said under his breath, roper managed to hear him, but didn't ask about it.

"Yes, the school was expecting you today, your five hours late you know" he said with a grin.

"I've been told that five hours late counts as slightly late, in japan" Roper said, remembering what his father told him earlier.

"Oh" the doctor let out a laugh, "then I'm dreading to think about what being slightly late must be like in England" he said as he ran through multiple files, probably trying to find Ropers.

Roper let out a loud laugh, he liked this man already.

"regardless, it's good that you are finally here, safe and sound, please take a seat!" he motioned with his hands towards a chair a few feet across from his.

Roper was glad he made it to Yamaku safely too, Roper would go mad if he was stuck in the middle of nowhere with his father, and no one else as a point of human contact.

Roper took a seat on the chair and watched the nurse pull out what must have been the file about him.

"loss of the left hand because of an incident involving a bike" he quietly re read over ropers file, to refresh his memory.

"says here that you have used anti-depressants in the past two years, and have turned down suggestions to remain on them by your doctors in England"

The nurse looked up at Roper, looking for an answer.

Roper smiled at the nurse's curiosity.

"You know what doctors are like, once they put you on them, they don't want to take you off them"

"I don't find them necessary anymore, I'm more comfortable with who I am now, two years ago I really wasn't, they helped me get ashore"

The nurse nodded

"that's good to hear, but if you ever find yourself slipping, tell me" his tone went from cheerful to serious in flash

Roper nodded

"will do"

"also, I recommend that you don't do anything to demanding on your left arm for the time being"

Well that was a no brainer.

"like playing goalkeeper for the school soccer team" the nurse gave an example

He laughed at his own joke.

Wait, Ouch,

"really rubbing salt into the wound there pal" Roper mentioned, but that only caused him to chuckle more at his joke.

"are you using your position as nurse to hold information over me?" roper asked with a confused laugh.

"I don't know William? is being five hours late, actually late in japan?" he let out a laugh, Roper laughed too, hey, he was funny.

"Just call me Roper, only my father ever calls me William"

Roper could already see them becoming friends.

"oh, so I am your father? I thought I was your nurse" he raised an eyebrow

Roper had to end this, this would hurt his reputation back home.

"I think we are done now, aren't we?" roper asked.

"yes, that will be fine" he smiled.

Roper stood up and tucked the borrowed chair back under the table, then looked back to the to nurse.

"I will probably try and use the gym when I have the time if that's okay" he told the nurse.

"yes, that will be fine, exercise is always encouraged when it's safe to do so here" he looked content and placed Ropers file back into the even larger pile of files.

Roper wanted to know what information he had on that file.

"okay then, that's it, come meet me if you ever need anything Roper"

"can probably do that"

Roper initiated a departing handshake, said thank you to the nurse for his time, and headed back down the corridor to the entrance of the building.

Walking through the door and looking up to the sky, roper realised how cold it was getting, and walked to towards the dorms as quickly as he could.

Roper felt like he already needed a vacation.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

 **Gawking at painters and passing time.**

Roper didn't mind the time it took to get from the Axillary building to the student dormitories, it gave him a chance to clear his mind.

Roper also took the time to make sense of his surroundings.

The entire garden was covered in the warm glow of the evening sky, sounds of birds chirping while flying to and from their nests could be heard coming down from the trees, accompanied by the quiet rustle of tree branches and shrubbery being moved by the gentle wind, occasional sounds of a distant car engines quietly droning away could also be picked out in the distance.

Roper was about halfway through the garden when the trees began to fan out and a much clearer view of the garden stood before him.

The grass was neatly cut, which Roper thought was quite the achievement, because the sheer scale of the garden was unlike anything he had ever seen before.

If the person who trims this grass gets paid by the hour, they're rich.

Roper could easily get used to this, it was so familiar to England, that if it were not for the occasional sign in Japanese, there would be no discernible way for him to tell the difference.

Even the lamp posts had the classic Victorian England look.

Eventually Roper reached the end of the garden, he spotted his father standing by the wall that lead across to the stairs, up to the dormitories.

Roper spotted what he thought was the start of some sort of Painting, it looked like a screaming twisted face that ran along the wall beside the stairs, it was hard to tell though, there wasn't much to see.

"That doesn't look haunting at all"

Just some basic outlines the artist would expand upon, Roper was curious as to how far across the wall it would go, he guessed it would go across the whole wall, but that caused Roper to wonder how many artists would have to work on a project that big, he remembered when he was fifteen years old that completing a painting on an a1 piece of paper was hard enough for him, if Roper had to do a project as big as this wall, Ropers teachers would probably be dead before it was done, It would stay blank for years.

"Can't say I would miss them though" Roper reminisced about his days when he picked art as a subject choice, only to find out he was awful at it, with no choice but to continue the subject, he did not get along well with his teachers, they constantly tried to push roper to try harder, he understood that he needed to work hard for a good grade, but it just came off as overbearing, it caused him to give up on his final project, after intense months of fruitless work.

It was probably the hardest E grade he ever worked for in his life.

Roper marched over towards his father who still had his back to roper, staring at the wall.

Ropers father must have listened to the footsteps, and judged the sound belonged to Roper because he didn't turn around when he spoke.

"your mother did something like this once…" it was distant, sort of sad but it was hard to tell really.

Roper didn't really know what to say to that, his father didn't speak much about his mother anymore, and roper never got to know her.

"oh…" roper let out, "that must have made you think twice when you saw it, eh?" Roper asked

Ropers dad turned to face him, his attitude changing back to his usual self, dropping the more sombre mood that he had a few moments ago.

"yeah, I had to do a double take, it's a mural… your mothers was almost the same size as this one I think" His face was in concentration, trying to recollect an image of how large it must have been.

"Anyway, William, would you like me to take you to your new room?" his father asked as he motioned towards the dorms, it wasn't really a question, Roper had no idea what room he was staying in, so if his father didn't show him he would probably end up sleeping in the corridors.

"Nah, I'm gonna go knocking on every door, until I find my room."

Ropers dad didn't find his sons joke amusing given that he needed him to find the room, "keep it up, you might end up doing that" he jabbed.

The room roper was staying in was on the first floor, room 46, without a guide it would be a pain in ropers ass to navigating the building for the first time with no directions.

Roper agreed to follow his father up the stairs that led to the dorm, the dorm itself, like most other building here was visually very impressive, it stood tall and was coloured bright red due to the bricks.

Roper already liked the dorm building, it looks homely, warm too. Roper wondered as he reached the top of the stairs, what someone from native japan must have thought about these buildings, Roper could easily see them feeling completely alienated from this style of the building.

it really was as if a slice of the west, was placed into japan…

walking inside Roper was instantly surprised by how wide the corridors were, the surprise was only short lasting however, it only made sense for a place like this.

Ropers father took a left-hand turn and marched down a similar looking corridor to the current one, this one however was narrower.

"Nice carpet as well…" roper pointed out

Along the walls between each door was a board, possibly for students mount up information for each other, Roper wasn't sure. He didn't understand why so many were needed in the first place.

"keep up Roper" Ropers father called out, down the corridor before making a quick right hand turn, his father went out of sight before Roper turned the corner and saw his father standing in front of a door, half way down.

Roper made his way over to his father and looked at the door number.

"forty-six eh? This, is it?" Roper already knew that it must have been, standing outside some else's dorm for no reason at all would become awkward were the person inside to open the door and find two total strangers standing there.

His father pulled out door keys from his back pocket and handed them to Roper.

"one last thing before you go in" Ropers father turned to his right and pointed down the corridor, to a double door. "that's your fire exit, in case of an emergency"

He pointed directly behind him "that's the bathroom, walk straight through the room to the door on the other side and it will take you to the showers."

"when on fire, run though the double door, or run to the showers, okay I can do that" he muttered as he reached out and placed the keys into the lock and twisted the key.

With what Roper thought was a very satisfying click, the door unlocked, Roper pulled the key from the door and returned his key to his pocket.

"your cloths are in your closet" where else would they be "all of your other things are still in your bag, I'll let you decide what to do with them"

"I'll call you at least once a month to keep you updated" roper told him

Roper guessed that would give his father some peace of mind, once that was said roper went about saying goodbye to his father, gave him a parting handshake, his father then gave him a parting hug, after that Roper watched his father wave as he turned the corner, back to the entrance.

From here on out Roper was alone, Roper was a student of Yamaku.

He stepped into the room, it was smaller than he would have liked, slightly smaller than the nurse's office, it had beige walls with no decorations on them, he spotted a few sockets along the wall leading to his bed, Roper already knew that would come In handy.

Sighing at the fact he got the short straw when it came to a good room, roper flicked on the room lights, the bulb gave off a nice warm yellow glow.

Above the sockets roper previously spotted, was a small beige table built into the wall, no bigger than thirty centimetres wide, just enough to hold an old looking lamp, along with his timetable and a few of his personal belongings once he got them out, next to the table was the bedside draw.

Roper walked from the door to his new wardrobe, it was big, though it was hard to tell, given the joke sized room he was allocated.

Opening his wardrobe, he saw all his cloths hung up, neatly allocated and filed into sections, school uniform on the wardrobes left side, with his casual clothes on the right with his shoes on the bottom of the wardrobes panel, the draw underneath contained his socks and other items.

Roper was content with the state his father left his wardrobe in and shut it, he walked back to his bed and sat down, testing to see what his new bed felt like.

"I've had better, but definitely had worse" he muttered to himself as he got the feel for his new bed, having concluded that the bed was acceptable, roper reached down and unzipped the duffle bag containing the last of his personal items, trinkets odd and ends for anyone that wasn't Roper, but for him these were his treasures, he once described them as being mankind's crown jewels, the rechargeable battery, the battery recharger and the ultimate treasure, the portable cassette player.

The Sony Walkman, blue, grey and discontinued. He was given the cassette player on Christmas by his grandfather, but never truly appreciated the sentimentality of it until his teen years, cassettes tapes like take on me, maneater and mister blue sky never let roper go back to mp3, it just didn't sound the same.

Taking the cassette player out of his bag, Roper wiped off all the dust and inspected it for damage, Roper then placed it on the built-in desk.

"I missed you too" Roper cooed to his cassette player like a mother talking to her baby.

half an hour later Roper had his room set up the way he wanted it, the batteries were charging, the cassette was waiting. It was now, after Roper had put his luggage where he wanted it, did he realise he had nothing else to do, school was over for today. What was worse was he wasn't tired, not physically anyway. It was now just gone eight pm but he couldn't sleep.

Roper opened his eyes and looked around the room, "I'm gonna need more cassettes…" Roper groaned, he hadn't thought this through at all really, what the hell was he going to do in his spare time?

This was a sad sight to see, Roper was sitting on his bed, total silence filling the room while he stared at a beige wall. He was going to lose his mind if this kept up.

"alright, I can't just sit here" Roper did a lot of running while in hospital, with the help of his cassette player it kept him distracted from being conscious of how slow time felt in a hospital.

Roper looked out of his window from the bed, he could see the sky was dark, it wasn't pitch black but it was sombre outside, it was the type of hour that caused the trees to become silhouettes while the visibility all around you was fine.

Roper could also see that the distant lamps he passed earlier where on, meaning, the pavements were illuminated enough for him to run on.

Roper stood up and walked to the window, he was right, the details were fuzzy but the trees and buildings were still visibly to the eye.

He could see the trees, the grass was a blur but noticeable, the white wall leading to the stairs stood out, and the girl painting on said wall with her feet.

Wait, what?!

Roper did a double take… no, still there.

he rubbed his eyes… no, still there

he pinched his arm… fuck, still there…

his jaw was completely slack, his eyes were so focused on the girl, his brow began twitching.

Roper didn't want to be gawking through the window but he couldn't help it, he couldn't believe what he was watching. This girl was painting with her feet.

He just watched, and watched. He lost track of the time, if anyone saw ropers face as he stood their like a moron they would probably have thought roper had just witnessed a ghost appearing outside and was too afraid to move. Though, he wasn't afraid, he was amazed.

Roper quickly pulled back from the window, his eyes burned from the sudden surge of light that went to his eyes, he had to squint, how long was he watching her for?

He pulled the curtain shut and opened his wardrobe, he grabbed his running shorts, a navy-blue v neck shirt and running trainers quickly getting dressed, throwing his previous cloths onto the bed, once dressed, he walked over to the cassette player, placing the now recharged batteries inside.

He put the cassette player in his pocket, with his headphones, he walked towards the door, flicking off the light as the door shut.

Roper knew what to do with the rest of his night.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

 **oddballs and clowns**

Roper locked the door, enjoying the satisfying click that came with it, he placed his dorm key into his back pocket and took off down the corridor, glancing at the doors as he passed, some rooms had lights on, but most were off. There was a possibility that they were out, Roper doubted that though, being that it was eight pm on a Monday night.

He made his way to the entrance of the dorms, the door automatically opened, detecting his movement, Roper walked though and stepped a few feet outside before stopping.

"…colder than expected" Roper grimaced, the air was cold, cold enough to cut through his clothes. While looking towards the stairs that lead down to the fields, Roper realized that the girl must have been freezing, from what he saw while staring out his window the girl only had a pair of trousers and a white shirt on.

Before he went jogging he would have to ask her if she was okay, just to make sure. Roper didn't want the girl to get sick while painting all alone at night.

Forgetting about his own condition and lack of comfort, Roper walked through the courtyard and down the stairs, towards the oddball girl who was using her feet to paint.

It dawned on Roper that her feet must have been freezing too, he didn't see any socks on her feet from the window.

As Roper made his way down the stairs, he was close enough to the girl because he caught her speaking to herself mid-sentence.

"…no, this green won't do…it needs more frog in it…"

thats an intresting way of putting it roper thought.

Roper could hear a deep contemplation in her voice, it sounded like the current shade of green was troubling her, as if it was close but wasn't quite right, Roper knew this feeling all too well. When he took art as a subject he constantly struggled to create the right shade of colour that he could see in his mind, it drove him crazy when he couldn't put it on paper.

It was so bad that roper once stared at a blank piece of a1 paper for twenty minutes before having to beg his teacher for help, he remembered how he just laughed like a lunatic when the teacher did it for him in thirty seconds.

Roper walked around the corner at the bottom of the stairs and followed the wall that led to the girl, it was different to when he had last seen it, but most of the wall was still blank. Ropers eyes fell onto the girl in question, and so many answers quickly answered themselves as he did.

First of all, this girl had no arms, which made painting with her feet make much more sense to roper than it did fifteen minutes ago, from what he could see from his window it was impossible to make out the details of the girl's body, it was too dark and too far away.

From where he was standing now it was much clearer, she was sitting down with a mat underneath her for comfort, her right foot, busy mixing into a bowl of paint, though it was completely impossible to see what colour it was, it was way too dark to be doing an activity like this, too cold to roper thought.

Ropers gaze fell onto the side of her her face, her focus was completely fixed on the paint, Roper thought that it looked like she had completely shut herself off from the outside world, and was directing all her focus into her paints, Roper could probably have walked right behind her and she wouldn't have noticed, for what it was worth, roper thought that the frown on her face was cute, it was an adorable look of determination.

Roper Spoke up, wanting to bring the girls attention away from the bowl and towards him, to make her either stop or at least put something more appropriate on for the temperature outside.

"You know, you are going to catch a cold if you stay out here much longer" he called out from her side as friendly as he could, putting on a cheerful smile.

Roper knew about people like this, the sort of person that would completely block out the sensations of hunger, boredom, and in this case, the cold when they became enveloped by something they enjoyed.

Ropers attempt at getting her attention worked, a few moments later she was now staring at roper, he was doing the same, waiting for a response. Roper decided to take the lead and open his mouth first.

Roper thought it would be good to give her his name.

"The names William Roper, call me Roper, just checking to see if you were okay, it's getting late." There was concern in ropers voice. "The nurse would go crazy if you caught an illness like this"

The girl continued to look at Roper for a moment, it looked like she was shocked to see someone come up and talk to her, Roper guessed that not many people asked questions about her, or her work, maybe she was embarrassed? Maybe she was just scared.

He didn't want to scare her but Roper still wanted to know why she was working outside on a night this cold.

"Rin, Tezuka rin, Rin Tesuka" the girl spoke, she bobbed her head from side to side as she said her name "your new here aren't you, I haven't seen you before and I remember everyone"

Some much for her being embarrassed, it was more like Rin was trying to figure out who Roper was, still, Roper wouldn't find it hard to believe she was still shocked to have someone talking to her.

Rin.

Roper liked that name, however Roper was starting to feel like a caretaker to someone he didn't know, He began to think he shouldn't act so concerned. Though, that did not sit well with roper, he was a senior student here now, it was his responsibility to look after other students when he had the chance.

"I arrived about three hours ago, that does count as new, right?"

Roper saw Rin give a half smile, it was lazy, but he could just about make it out in the dark.

"I would say so" she tilted her head to the side in contemplation, he could hear a playfulness in her voice.

"your accent sounds funny, like Hugh Grant" the way she said it sounded like she thought it was a normal thing to mention, Roper burst out into laughter, he didn't expect someone to be so upfront about his accent to his face, he was expecting something much subtler, something that went "hmm your accent sounds unfamiliar where are you from?" but defiantly not you sound like Hugh grant. He couldn't stop his laughing

"Yes, well… we all have a cross to bear, don't we Rin" Roper said trying to stop his hearty laugh.

Rins face became relaxed, she looked like she had completely forgotten about the stress of her mural and was only focus on the two of them, "it's not a bad thing Roper" Rin said with a small smile.

"so, I don't sound like a clown then? great to know Rin" Roper nodded towards the wall, "the murals looking really nice."

Rin didn't respond, she just looked at Roper after his compliment, it was hard to read her face, it was a complete deadpan look.

A moment later Rin spoke up, she sounded like a person that had forgot something important and needed it right away

"I need to get back to my mural, can we speak ano-" An urgency came from her voice as she spoke, Roper let out a laugh at her politeness.

"Don't let me distract you from your work, I'll see myself off" Roper smiled "just don't stay out too much longer Rin, you'll never get it done if you're sick"

Roper guessed that maybe she had to meet a deadline, what really got Ropers attention was Rin's use of "my mural."

Roper was amazed. If She was doing this on her own it would take months of dedication to finish, Roper had thought that it was a project for an entire art class, not for a single student, especially for a student with no arms to paint with.

Roper watched as Rin turned back to Her work, he smiled as she began to remix the paint with her feet with delicate precision.

She was amazing, if this is what all students at yamaku were like, he was going to be left in the dirt by comparison. Roper let out a quiet laugh to himself, he looked up at the sky and shook the thoughts out of his head, returning his attention to the girl who's only focus was her little world she was creating.

"You're amazing Rin, I'm confident you will get your mural done" Roper thought the unfinished work looked creepy, but he didn't care since it came from such an unexpected oddball like Rin.

With that Roper turned around, choosing not to Distract Rin from her mural, walking away he swore he heard a muffled thank you from the girl. Roper didn't look back however, he had a run to do and it was already getting darker by the minute.

Roper reached into his pocket and pulled out his Sony Walkman, and brought the headphones to his ears, After Ropers warm up stretches he clicked the play button and took of down the path leading towards the garden.

Half an hour later Roper had finished his impromptu jogging route around the gardens, Roper was pleased to find that Rin was no longer working by the wall on her own. He even managed to find a track and field complex at the far end of the gardens, he would be using that when he had the time.

However, Roper wondered how much free time he would be given, he had only seen one other student since he had arrived, He had joked earlier about lots of homework being handed out, but Roper really hoped that homework wasn't the reason, there must have been another reason for this, though Roper still didn't know what.

Roper reached his room, unlocking the door he walked inside flicking on the table lamp, he then shut the door behind him, as light filled the room he placed his cassette player back into the safety of the draw.

Roper took of his running clothes, placing them back into the wardrobe.

Roper decided that it would be best to have a shower before he fell into sleep.

Roper walked back through the door, out into the hallway, he was only in his underwear but he wasn't exactly worried, he had nothing to hide in an all-male dorm, especially one that was a ghost town by six pm.

Roper opened the bathroom door, walking through the bathroom he was surprised, the room was tiled, all white and completely spotless, the room was huge, maybe even too big. It was an amazing sight to see, this was the type of treatment for royalty.

"if the queen of England could see me now…"

Roper entered the bathroom and was again amazed, all white tiled floors, private showers, even a sauna at the far end, Roper couldn't even begin to imagine what the funding of this place was now.

Walking towards the showers ropers eyes fell onto large lockers with names on them. Roper walked over to them and glanced over the names, Roper continued to read the names until he spotted his.

Roper.

The key was still inside the lock which Roper did not like, it meant anyone could have opened his locker and could have looked inside. Roper grumbled and opened his locker. Roper was content with what he found, and it didn't look like anything had been moved around, everything was neatly packet tight inside.

"guess it's not the type of place…"

Roper was glad that it wasn't an empty locker, he pulled out his towel then took off towards the showers.

Roper was in heaven, the water was just right, even on full heat it never scolded Roper.

"Oh, I can get used to this" he said, entranced by how relaxing it felt on his tired muscles.

 **Fifteen minutes later.**

Roper had finished in his shower, and had put the towel back into his locker, taking the key with him.

Back in his room roper put the key with his cassette player in the top of the bedside draw, it was now half past nine and Roper was now finally feeling tired, sliding into the bed Roper must have really worn himself out because the bed now felt like an eight out of ten.

Roper looked to his bedside table and took his time table into his hand, "classroom 3-4" roper said aloud, that was the room roper would be taught in? he had to be up and ready for school at 8am, Roper was okay with that, he would have to be up by 7am and leave by 7:45 to make it to class on time.

Roper set his alarm for 6:30 am to make sure he could get ready and not rush to school. He didn't want to be late for his first lesson, roper didn't think that would set a good tone with his new teacher, Roper wondered who it would be, it gave no mention of a name on his timetable, he only had a map of how to get to room 3-4 and what lessons he would be doing for each period.

The timetable also mentioned briefly about the class being specifically for people with physical disabilities, it was obvious why Roper would then be put into that class.

Ropers mind suddenly remembered Rin, he wondered if Rin would be in his class, though he didn't know, he couldn't get a good guess of how old she was specifically, from what he saw she wasn't very tall, He felt that it was very amusing to be possibly an entire foot over someone. he thought it would be good to see her again, she seemed like quite the character.

if Roper was not in the same class as her he could see her when she painted from time to time, Roper didn't think that would hurt.

Roper chuckled to himself as he placed his timetable onto his draw, he then went about setting his alarm for 6:30am, then flicking off the light from his table lamp, the room was enveloped into darkness, with the only source of light being the dark blue coming from the midnight sky, and the brightness of the moon.

Content with how his day turned out, roper shut his eyes and went to sleep.


End file.
